Nothing legal about it: State's law proposed varsity in limbo as college refuses to vacate building for it; meanwhile, cops guards BP Panda's office-house
The proposed Maharashtra National Law University may have jumped through countless bureaucratic hoops, but the political ones seem to be waiting patiently to swallow it, or at least cow it down.
While the government allotted MNLU temporary accommodation in state-run Ismail Yusuf College in Jogeshwari despite persistent opposition from Muslim groups led by former Congress MLA Yusuf Abrahani, the protesters' vehemence has put a scare in vice-chancellor BP Panda. Last month, he approached the collector and police commissioner to ask for security cover. Now half a dozen cops guard his house-and-office at the college.
Meanwhile, the college is yet to vacate the building for the purpose, and the state has nothing to say. Professor Panda said, "Yes, I felt a threat to my life and asked the city collector who stationed cops at my place.
However, the government is yet to take note of my pleas. Though it allotted us the building, the college is yet to vacate it. Under these circumstances, holding an all India entrance test for 2015-16 is not possible, especially since the clock is ticking. It's already April. Other law schools hold exams in May."
The agitators claim that the land on which the college is built must be used exclusively for the welfare of Muslim was it was granted by a Muslim philanthropist; they have threatened to occupy the college in case the government goes ahead with the plan.
Panda, 60, the ace law professor who worked at Bangalore, Kolkata and Patna NLUs, took up the challenge of setting up Maharashtra's first NLU in October. He said, "I have struggled since day one and don't know when it will end. The government doesn't seem serious about this."
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and higher education minister Vinod Tawde didn't respond to dna's calls and messages.
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